Immortal
by TheyCallMe.MarieCurie
Summary: They should have never left to Berlin. That journey ordered their fate. Warnings: INCEST, strong language, violence and 'human names'. Rated M for a reason
1. Chapter 1

Yekaterina Braginskaya was spending her holiday visiting Ivan in Russia. They tended to visit each other when they had free time from work. Also Natalia had arrived from her home in Belarus. Natalia had always loved her brother, even too much sometimes, because whenever she and her brother met, the man got marriage registration papers before his eyes, though Ivan refused every time because they were siblings and Ivan could not respond to his sister's feelings.

Katya was very modest. She was also very poor and there came times when she had problems with paying all the bills. Until now she had still managed to stay alive. She loved the Russian with her whole heart, but never dared to tell him.

The three of them were sitting in the kitchen, eating dinner. The meal was prepared by Yekaterina, because that woman had made a promise to cook every meal when visiting her brother. "It's a thank you for the accommodation," she tended to say. Ivan didn't dare to deny her because he knew that though she was a guest she had to do something to return the favour. It belonged to her habits. Usually Natalia did dishes, though Katya tried to refuse her to be able to do it herself.

Dining went as usual. They exchanged news, complained about the amount of all the paperwork and those kind of things. But the Ukrainian kept quiet. Ivan began to worry about her. Normally, she was in a good mood when in company.

"Are you getting sick?" Ivan asked, also getting Natalia's attention for the quiet one. Katya sighed and rose from the table.

"I wish I'm not... I hardly slept last night and because of that I'm really tired now. Excuse me; I think I'm going to bed now."

The Russian stared after his older sister when she left the kitchen. Maybe she really **was** sick. Catching a cold wouldn't be a surprise in the cold Russian winter, but this seemed like something totally different. The man was confused.

Yekaterina walked to her brother's bedroom and opened the desk drawer. A moment after searching she found what she was looking for: A letter addressed to Ivan Braginski. The woman knew she was doing wrong, but she wanted to make sure of one thing. She opened the letter and read it. Katya had to sit down. The information the letter contained got her upset. The letter Ivan sent her a week ago wasn't just a bad joke. He was seriously going to cut off the gas pipe to Ukraine. Though Katya knew that Ivan wasn't doing it for his own will, but was forced to do so. She was sure that if she let it happen she wouldn't be able to survive the following winter.

Meanwhile Natalia was clearing the table and taking the dishes to the sink. Ivan stood from his place leaving the room to read few papers. He found the Ukrainian sitting on his bed crying, the letter in her hand. Ivan sat next to her and well understood the reason for woman's tears.

"Katya, I-..."

"It's o-okay... It's not your fault..."

"If it matters, I tried to figure out some way to help you."

"...T-thank you..." Ivan wrapped his arms around Yekaterina and pressed her head lightly against his chest.

"Don't cry, we'll fix it out somehow." The woman gave no answer. She managed to stop her tears and calmed down inside the man's arms.


	2. Chapter 2

The following winter in Ukraine was cold. For Katya's luck there was enough firewood for a while. She tossed more firewood to the furnace and wished the winter to be shorter. She was too scared to sleep at night, the coldest time of day. She was afraid of freezing to death. Katya took a short nap around midday; otherwise, she sat next to the stove maintaining the fire or ate. She had carried her blanket and her pillow onto the couch and that's where she slept.

The woman went to the kitchen and checked the insides of the pantry. Food was running out, and inevitably it would end before the heart of winter, even though she tried to save it. In the middle of the winter you can't visit the shop every other day when you have to mince your strength. Fortunately, she needed to provide only for herself and not any children.

Yekaterina took roots from her slowly disappearing food supplies. There was hardly enough for one person's meal. The living room's stove was allowed to serve for cooking when there was no gas. The woman threw more wood to the furnace. One of her pots found its way from cabinet to the table. Katya poured it half full of water and put it onto the stove to warm it up. Then she took her cutting board and chopped the vegetables into little cubes. With plenty of water it was just enough for a half bowl of very watery soup. The woman threw the cubes into the pot and added a little bit of salt.

Suddenly, there was a hard knocking at the door. Katya went to answer it, wishing it be the Grim Reaper for example, because she wouldn't be able to see the next spring anyway. Behind the door stood a long, platinum-haired man, who Katya identified immediately.

"Ivan!"

Katya hugged the man, who was a little bit cold, though he was wearing warm clothing. The Ukrainian pulled the Russian into her house and sat him down onto living room's sofa, near the stove.

"I'm sorry that I didn't inform you I was coming," Ivan begun. "If I had called, you would have started to worry too much for me. I didn't want to make you worry for nothing."

The woman went speechless for man's thoughtfulness.

"It's okay..." She managed to say after a while. "Ah, I'm just cooking. You must be hungry."

"Yes, actually..." Ivan noticed now his stomach was rumbling, and wasn't really offended when Katya brought him a small bowl filled with almost plain broth.

"This... This is what you eat?" The man said with a sad tone in his voice, wanting the woman's best more than ever. Katya acted like she didn't hear the whole question.

"So, what brings you here? And even at this time of a year?"

Ivan thought for a moment and formulated his words in mind.

"Don't think I do this because I would feel awful if I let you die," the Russian said, putting his now empty bowl onto the table and rose off the sofa. Then he knelt down before the Ukrainian woman. Katya sighed with surprise.

"I've been thinking of this for a while already. The moment just didn't feel right earlier. I wanted to do this before it's too late. Yekaterina Braginskaya... Will you marry me?" The man said and took a tiny jewelry box from his pocket. There was a dainty ring in it.

"Да! I will!" Katya said with tears of emotion in her eyes. She took the ring with her shaking hands and put it to her left ring finger. Then she fell from the couch into Ivan's embrace. They kissed. And they both felt like one kiss had warmed their cold bodies. They sat on the floor in each other's arms.

"Katya..?"

No answer. Ivan took a closer look at the woman. She had fallen asleep.

She surely was tired... He lifted Katya onto the couch and covered her up. He sat the whole night next to the stove, adding more wood to the flames and guarding the woman's sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm sorry it took so long to write this chapter. My apologies.  
><strong>**Anyway, thanks for everyone who read, 'story alerted' or fav'd my fanfic. I love you guys ^^**

* * *

><p>Katya opened her eyes slowly, closing them soon again.<p>

_It's so warm... I thought the stove would burn out at night..._she thought. Suddenly the woman realized how strange the whole situation was, and almost jumped up from the sofa, taking fright for the Russian man who was sitting on the floor.

The woman remembered the previous evening, the proposal... She glanced at the ring she had been given and almost burst into tears immediately. Natalia wasn't going to take this easily. Maybe the news had already reached her and she was on her way to kill her older sister.

Katya began thinking of what she had done. Why had she done it anyway? It wasn't like she had been drunk and said 'yes' as a joke. She had really meant it. She _wanted _it to happen. And yet she felt so bad...

"Is everything okay?" The Russian asked. He rose from the floor and walked over to the Ukrainian and hugged her. The woman started crying.

"T-this shouldn't be happening... Belarus is going to kill me," she sobbed.

"Нет. Nobody is going to kill anyone. I won't allow it. Trust me," Ivan tried to calm the woman down, wiping away her tears. "Everything is going to be fine."

"I don't want to hurt her... She's my сестра, after all..."

Ivan sighed and went to the kitchen.

"I'll figure out something to eat; you'll feel better after you've eaten."

"But there's almost nothing left..."

"How can you tell? You slept the whole night."

Katya could hear something-laughter, kind in the man's voice.

"N-no way...You went to the shop and bought food while I was sleeping?"

"Да."

She stood up from the sofa and joined the Russian in the kitchen.

"You're a mean, mean person. You shouldn't waste your money on me," Katya said. She wasn't angry, but relieved, because if she had food now, she might be able to work again soon. Then she continued with the worried tone in her voice. "How could you afford it? And the ring?"

"I had some savings," he answered. Ivan just couldn't tell her that he had spent all the money he had.

Suddenly the door flew open. Literally. Both the man and the woman knew who was coming. A younger woman dressed in dark blue dress, a same-colored bow in her hair appeared to the kitchen's door. Ivan stared, his eyes full of fear and despair. There was just seconds of silence before she attacked the man.

"_Marry me, marry me, MARRY ME!_"

She sounded creepy as always when it came to her brother. Katya couldn't stop her younger sister, but at least she tried to pull Natalia away without hurting her.

"Natalia, please stop... I'm begging you..." The Ukrainian sobbed as the tears filled her eyes.

The Belarusian stopped. But not because her sister told her to do so. She had noticed something shiny in Katya's hand. She took a closer look, silently.

"You've got engaged, big sister," Natalia said. Her voice was now closer to peaceful and relaxed, with a little bit of surprise. "Who is that lucky man?"

Katya was already trembling with fear. She couldn't force the answer up from her throat as she let go of her sister and fell onto the floor. Tears kept flowing, and Natalia stared quietly. Until she realized. She took a quick glance at the Russian.

"_It's you, isn't it?_"

Ivan stood still. He was scared but he had decided not to show it.

"Да. I proposed to her. And she said yes."

Then there was silence. It seemed to last forever, though it lasted really only a few minutes. Nobody moved, nobody released any sound. Even Katya had managed to stop her crying for a while. Natalia was the first one to speak.

"You traitor! _YOU TRAITOR!_"

Katya grabbed her sister's ankle to prevent her from moving towards their brother. For her surprise, Natalia wasn't even trying to move. She seemed to be like just floating in the sea of emotions inside her mind. Her eyes reflected disappointment, despair and something no one had ever seen before in that girl: pure sorrow. Natalia didn't cry, but she wasn't far from it. Her leg was released and she was free to move again. Slowly the Belarusian turned around and walked out of the kitchen, then leaving the whole house. She wished her siblings had not noticed the small tears dripping from her eyes.

In the kitchen there was the Russian and the Ukrainian, both confused and staring after that platinum-haired woman.


End file.
